CHQT

53°22′7″N 113°19′5″W / 53.36861°N 113.31806°W / 53.36861; -113.31806LinksWebcastListen LiveWebsiteglobalnews.ca/radio/630ched

CHQT (880 AM, 630 CHED) is a commercial radio station licensed to Edmonton, Alberta. Owned by Corus Entertainment, the station currently serves as a rebroadcaster of sister station CHED, the call sign and programming of which will relocate permanently to the 880 AM facility on October 9, 2024.

CHQT broadcasts with a power of 50,000 watts, using a non-directional antenna in the daytime. But because AM 880 is a clear channel frequency, CHQT must use a directional antenna at night. The station can be heard in AM stereo using the C-QUAM system.

According to the Numeris Winter 2018-2019 Meter Ratings Report, the station ranked 18th (out of 19 stations measured)^[1]

As of February 28, 2021, CHQT was the 16th-most-listened-to radio station in the Edmonton market according to a PPM data report released by Numeris.^[2]

The station signed on August 19, 1965 on 1110 kHz, with 10,000 watts power. It originally broadcast a Middle of the road format. In 1979, CHQT started using 50,000 watts power. In 1986, the station changed frequency to 880 kHz as it was sold to Monarch Broadcasting, Ltd.^[3]

In July 2000, Shaw Broadcasting sold the station to Corus Entertainment.^[4] In June 2001, CHQT flipped to oldies as Cool 880. In October 2003, the station briefly flipped to a variety hits format as 880 Joe AM. The format moved to sister station CKNG-FM as 92.5 Joe FM on January 13, 2004, after which CHQT reverted to oldies; it is likely CHQT flipped to the format merely as a placeholder while CKNG prepared for their flip to avoid a rival company preemptively making any similar move.

On May 20, 2008, CHQT re-launched as an all-news station, branded as iNews 880, complementing sister talk radio station CHED. On May 29, 2018, the station re-branded as Global News Radio 880 Edmonton, as part of an ongoing rebranding of Corus's news/talk radio stations to create synergies with Global News television programming, and its local station CITV-DT. As part of the rebranding, the station added an audio simulcast of Global News Hour at 6.^[5][6] An audio simulcast of Global News at Noon from Global Edmonton was added as of March 2019. As of July 2020, an audio-only rebroadcast of Global National aired on CHQT at 7 p.m., following the News Hour simulcast.

On June 26, 2024, as part of cuts by Corus, CHQT discontinued its all-news format and began simulcasting CHED.^[7] At the time, Corus stated that the simulcast was an interim measure and that it would ultimately only operate one news-talk AM station in Edmonton, but did not immediately announce its plans for the future of the station.^[8] On August 28, Corus announced that CHED's branding and programming would move permanently to 880 beginning October 9, 2024. Corus cited that CHQT's signal had better coverage than that of CHED; while both stations operate at a power of 50 kilowatts, the 880 AM transmitter is non-directional during the day whereas 630 is directional at all times. After the move is completed, the 630 AM signal will be shut down, with its license returned to the CRTC and its transmitter site sold.^[9][10]

• Global News Radio 880 Edmonton
• History of CHQT - Canadian Communications Foundation
• CHQT in the REC Canadian station database